But as modern roller derby picks up speed, more men are getting in on the game.

"The thing with men's (roller) derby is we're kind of outsiders in an outsider sport," said Johnny Ryan, aka OG Juan Kanobi (his roller derby name). "What's great is this sport is brutal, and we just make it that much more brutal."

Ryan, 40, is an emcee for Crossroads City Derby, a nonprofit organization and the premier women's flat track roller derby league in Las Cruces. He also is one of the few men in Las Cruces working to establish New Mexico Men's Roller Derby, the first men's competitive roller derby team in the state.

"There's a men's team in El Paso that is more of a recreational team," Ryan said. "They do bouts and play, but we were looking to form something that would be a little more serious."

Practices for the men's team started in August. However, organizers said they are still trying to recruit more men to join. A Fresh Meat Recruiting Night for men and women interested in trying out the sport will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the track behind Meerscheidt Recreation Center, 1600 E. Hadley Ave. Limited skates and gear will be provided.

"We have six (men) in Las Cruces and we've got between 12 and 16 on our Facebook group," said Robbie Grant, 36, aka Jesus H. Coach, another member of the men's team. "There's a couple (guys) in Alamogordo, there's a couple in Hobbs and there's two or three in Albuquerque, and then we have a guy in El Paso practicing and playing with us."

Grant, also the head coach for Crossroads City Derby, said in a state where not very many men know about, or skate roller derby, getting a team of 14 (the number you have on one team to take to a game) together in one city can be a challenge. In short, roller derby is a full-contact sport that involves two teams, each with four blockers and one jammer. The jammer scores points for the team by earning one point for each opposing skater she or he passes on the track.

New roller derby members must attend a Fresh Meat 12-week boot camp training, in which they are taught basic skating skills, such as proper derby stance, how to fall correctly and stopping in skates. After boot camp, "freshies" go through several months of training before they are given the Women's Flat Track Derby Association Basic Skills Assessment, which they must pass prior to competing. The next Fresh Meat training begins Nov. 7, according to the Crossroads City Derby website.

"We have to teach people how to skate before we can teach them how to play roller derby, and teaching someone how to skate takes about a year, until they get to the point where they can get hit without just falling down," Grant said.

Many of the men who have joined the roller derby team so far became interested in the sport because their wife or significant other skates roller derby or because they serve as a referee, coach or volunteer, Ryan said. Both Ryan and Grant have wives who skate with Crossroads City Derby.

Johnny Ryan and Derrick Merchant watch demonstrations of different types of falls and how to recover at their weekly Sunday practice.(Photo: Gary Mook/ for the Las Cruces Sun-News)

"Now it's a matter of getting out and doing it ourselves," Ryan said. "You can only watch for so long. It's a lot of fun. It's great exercise."

The roller derby life

Grant said roller derby evolved from an underground alternative lifestyle, which is why skaters involved in the sport have the nicknames.

"You've got doctors and lawyers, teachers, professors, school teachers, who are playing this game, and so they kind of created these alter egos as to not be found out," he said. "So they played and they bouted in makeup and with (made-up) names that you couldn't really tell who they were — to hide their identity in a sport that's not really widely known or widely accepted."

Members of the New Mexico Men's Roller Derby Team watch closely as they are taught different types of stops at the rink behind Meerscheidt Recreation Center at a recent practice.(Photo: Gary Mook/ for the Las Cruces Sun-News)

While many people might associate roller derby with piercings, short shorts, and fish nets or stockings worn by many of the women's teams, the sport is much more than cute outfits and the theatrics that it once was, Ryan said.

"We make it look very easy. It's not," he said. "I've been on skates now for only two months and you'll see some of us struggle with even standing up straight."

Roller derby may be a tough and sometimes dangerous sport, but the culture of roller derby is very open and accepting of all races, genders and personalities, Ryan said.

"You could be purple," he said. "You could be into any kind of weird stuff, and you're cool here. As long as you respect everybody else and show up and put in the work, that's really all that matters to these people. And we push each other."

Marco Torres, 22, aka Naked Alien, the captain and one of the coaches of New Mexico Men's Roller Derby, said being a part of roller derby has changed his life for the better.

"Before I even joined derby, I was just an extremely shy person and overweight, kind of anti-social and I didn't like the person I was before derby," Torres said. "I didn't know derby was going to do all these things for me, but actually, I'm very comfortable speaking to people. I feel like I want to meet (everyone) now."

Torres said playing roller derby also helped him to lose weight.

(Photo: Gary A. Mook)

"I lost 30 to 40 pounds and I gained it all back, but instead of in fat, in muscle, so I weigh the same again, but I look different now," he said.

Torres is currently training for a spot on Team USA to compete in the Roller Derby World Cup in Canada next year, he said.

"I get up early in the morning and go with a trainer and then go to school and then go to practice," he said. "That's pretty much my entire day every day."

Torres said he recommends others get involved in the sport because it opens up new possibilities and provides an easy way to make friends.

"Derby has given me a second family that I can rely on," he said. "They're pretty competitive but extremely supportive of derby players."

Crossroads City Derby is a league of Women's Flat Track Derby Association and includes two women's home teams and two women's traveling teams. The Sucias is a nationally ranked All-Star traveling women's team, Ryan said.

"I think for this city in particular and this league in particular, it's taking this sport to the next level," Ryan said. "We're making it a mission here in Las Cruces to be nationally ranked, to compete at that level and at least in division three, be one of the best teams, whether it's the men's team or the women's team, in the country. We really want that."

The men's team hopes to start competing against other men's roller derby teams by August or September next year, Grant said.

For more information about Crossroads City Derby, visit crossroadscityderbydolls.com or visit facebook.com/crossroadscityderby.

Alexia Severson may be reached at 575-541-5462 and aseverson@lcsun-news.com. Follow her @AlexiaMSeverson on Twitter.